The Vampire Hunter's Daughter The Complete Collection (16 page)

Where the heck was Sostrate now?

“Hi Luke!” I chirped, going directly to his
bedside.

“Chloe!” He turned his head to look at me.
Drew went to the counter, without saying a word, and began to
organize the flowers, stuffed animals and treats that people had
been sending and bringing him. One of the bears just had to have
been made at one of those places where you build your own. It had
on a camouflage shirt and hat, plus little black combat boots. A
tiny little bandolier sat over its shoulder. I don’t know where
they got it, but someone had stuck a tiny toy cross bow in the
bear's hands. The card read, ‘It’s always vampire hunting
season.’

It was hilarious.

“How are you doing today?” I asked him,
taking one of his hands into mine.

“Same; nothing has changed. I know I’m
healing pretty fast, but not nearly fast enough. All I can do is
watch the damn television. It’s boring.”

I nodded. “I totally understand that. I don’t
know what I would do if I had to lay here and do nothing all day.
Do you need us to bring anything from home?”

He tiredly shook his head. “No, no. I’m fine
here. At least most of the nurses are pretty.”

“Luke!”

“Well, they are. I’m hurt, not dead. If I
have to have someone giving me a sponge bath, I’m just glad she's
pretty.”

I laughed. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Hi, Drew,” Luke called out.

“Hey, Luke,” Drew responded and came over to
the bed. “How’s it going?”

“I already just told Chloe, and I know you
heard it. Why don’t you go down to the cafeteria and get me a
banana and a couple of those little cartons of milk. Would you do
that, please?”

Drew nodded. “Sure thing.”

He left without question. He always did what
Luke told him to do.

“Chloe, come here, child.” I could tell he
was trying to pull me closer so he could whisper.

I leaned my head in and whispered, “What’s
up?”

“I know what you are thinking about doing,
please… please don’t go.”

How on earth would he know that? But then
again, he knew to come to the rescue when my mom was murdered.

“I have to, Luke,” I whispered in his ear and
looked him in the eye. “I don’t want anyone else I care about to be
hurt. You are the only family I have left.”

“We are hunters, Chloe. This is what we do,
and as long as a couple of them go down with us, we are glad to
sacrifice ourselves. It is who we are.”

“But still—”

“I’m not done,” he cut me off. “I will not
make you stay with us. I know you will do whatever you want anyway,
but at least stay until you’re ready.”

I was already shaking my head. “Luke…”

“No, you need to be trained more. At least
think about it. Also, I know I just finished telling you that we
are hunters, and that this is what we do, but child, I don’t want
to lose you so soon after losing my own daughter. Remember that
too.”

Oh great… he went and pulled a guilt trip on
me.

I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.
“I’ll think about it.”

“Just don’t leave without telling me. I don’t
care what you do about everyone else, but don’t you dare leave
without telling me.”

“I promise.”

I pulled away and sat in the chair next to
him. We watched Wheel of Fortune on the little television and
didn’t speak. Drew returned with the banana and milk. He also had
two cartons of orange juice with him.

“Here.” He held one out to me.

“Thanks.”

Luke’s eyes followed from one of us to the
other and then an eyebrow rose. “Did you two have a fight?”

Neither of us answered. It seemed like we had
been fighting ever since the attack. I had to wonder why that was.
It seemed like something like that would only make us closer, you
know, help us learn to work together.

“I see,” Luke said. “Well, get over it
because the two of you still have to train. Chloe still needs help
improving her skills and working with her fire power.”

This time we both answered. “Yes, sir,” Drew
said at the same time I said, “Okay.”

We sat there for another half an hour in
silence, Drew on one side of Luke and me on the other, watching
Jeopardy because it was on after Wheel. After Jeopardy, we left. I
always hated leaving Luke there in the hospital alone, because he
was injured; he had no way to protect himself.

When we were back at home, I changed my
sweater and put on a long-sleeved thermal shirt with skulls on it.
I put on my holster that Drew had given me. It was nice to not have
to wear my gun in the back of my pants where I might shoot my butt
off. Next, I grabbed the bow Sostrate had given me and the
beautiful leather quiver. I inspected my arrows to make sure they
were all there and carried it over my shoulder. I really needed to
practice with the bow, because I hadn’t used it at all with my cast
on.

I dialed Gavin’s number on the way out the
front door. I didn’t even tell Drew I was leaving. He probably knew
where I was going anyway since he had eavesdropped on my phone call
earlier in the day.

“Hey, Chloe,” Gavin answered from the
phone.

“I’m on my way over to the ranges now.”

“Awesome. I’ll meet you there. Let’s start
with archery.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I told him and clicked
off the line.

Outside, I blinked against the brightness
after being inside so long. It seemed strange for it to be so
bright, because the day was gray and threatened to snow. I shrugged
the quiver up onto my shoulders and hurried down the driveway.

The walk to the ranges was cold and wet. I
was really hoping spring would come soon. I had never in my whole
life spent so much time outside in winter. I avoided the trails
because I wasn’t sure how much snow was on them, so I stayed on the
roads. When I arrived in town, I went into the coffee shop to get a
latte to warm me up. Funny how in town one could just walk into any
business establishment with a bow slung over the shoulder and a gun
strapped on.

Jaime, the owner of the Java Bean, was
working the counter. The only time I ever saw her was when I came
in to get coffee. She was a really nice lady, in her early
twenties, I guessed. I liked her because she was one of those
perpetually perky people, and she looked like it, too. She always
had her blond hair in some trendy style, and she had bright blue
eyes that didn’t look cold at all. They were warm and inviting.

A few other people occupied the Java Bean,
all sitting around drinking coffee and reading newspapers. I had
realized recently that most hunters really liked reading the
newspaper and watching the news.

“Hey, Chloe.” She glanced up from the iced
coffee she was mixing.

“Hi, Jaime. How’s it going today?”

She grinned. “Busy as always, and you?”

“I’m heading out to the ranges for practice.”
I shifted my bow a little bit.

“Well, that sounds fun, although it’s not
exactly beautiful out there.” She nodded toward the windows.
Snowflakes had begun to float down and stick on the sidewalk.

“I’ll live,” I told her.

“So what’ll ya have today?”

“Can I get a large double-shot latte with
hazelnut. Hot.” I thought of Gavin. “Better make that two.”

“Coming right up.” Jaime grabbed a cup off
the stack and started to make the lattes.

I turned away from the counter and my quiver
knocked the large vase acting as a tip jar off the counter.
Reflexively I tried to catch it but missed. It hit the ground with
a loud crash and burst. Millions of shards bounced up, almost
suspended in mid-air, and then rained back down. Something went
wonky with my vision, because it looked so sharp and clear, similar
to how the glitter had played tricks on my eyes earlier that
morning. I blinked to clear my eyes, but I realized I could see
every single individual shard glimmer under the lights.

What the heck…?

It took a moment to realize people were
staring at me.

“Oh, my gosh… I’m so sorry, Jaime!”

She went for the broom and waved it off.
“Don’t worry about it. Nothing we can’t clean up.”

I took my quiver off and sat it on a chair
and bent to help pick up the larger shards.

“Chloe, don’t touch it. You might cut
yourself.”

Go figure, the minute she said that, I
managed to slice my left index finger open.

“Ouch!” I stuck my finger in my mouth and
sucked on it. “Damn it,” I mumbled around my finger. Suddenly, as
the blood touched my tongue, I didn’t want to remove my finger from
my mouth. It tasted sweet, but metallic at the same time.

“Watch out,” Jaime ordered me as she swept
the glass.

I jumped up as her voice brought me back to
reality, reluctantly pulled my finger out of my mouth, and then
went around the corner to grab the trash can.

“Maybe today isn’t the best day to go out
shooting,” I joked, holding the can out for her to dump the glass
into.

She chuckled a bit and finished with the rest
of the glass.

“I’ll get you a bandage,” she told me as she
brought out a little medical kit from underneath the counter.

“Oh, I’ll be okay.” I told her, not wanting
her to go through any more trouble for me. Plus, I had mostly
sucked it dry, still able to taste a faint metallic hint on my
tongue and it wasn't bleeding any longer.

“I’m still giving you one. You are not
leaving here with a bleeding finger, Chloe.”

After I finally accepted the bandage and had
it applied snugly on my finger, she set the lattes on the counter
in front of me. I paid, giving her a ten and telling her to keep
the change. I wished I had more cash on me to help pay for the
broken jar. I grabbed my bow and quiver, slinging them over my
shoulder so I had both hands free for the coffee.

“See you later, and I’m really sorry about
your jar.” I nodded to her because my hands were full with the
lattes and headed out. The snow came down harder than before, and I
had to duck my head to keep it off my face.

My vision really was acting weird. Normally,
when my eyes messed with me, everything would get blurry or fuzzy,
but my vision was sharper. The snowflakes dropped onto the shoveled
sidewalks, some sticking and some melting. I could see each one
like I was looking at it through a magnifying glass. Each was so
pretty and clear when it hit the sidewalk and then dissolved into
beautiful droplets, before finally melting away to join the
puddles.

I blinked several times, trying to get
everything back to normal and continued on to the ranges.

The ranges had indoor and outdoor areas for
both guns and archery. I figured, because of the snow, Gavin would
wait for me at the indoor ranges. Sure enough, he sat at one of the
metal picnic-type benches, adjusting the sights on his bow.

“Hi!” I called out after I struggled to get
through the metal double doors with my bow and quiver on and the
lattes in both hands.